Roses, Secrets, and Forgiveness
by Bionic Egypt
Summary: "Roses: Someone has been leaving me flowers for over a week. Secrets: His secret might break our relationship. Forgiveness: I'm sorry I didn't tell you." Sometimes the one you love isn't what they seem . . .
1. Roses

**When I first got the idea for this, it was only going to be a oneshot. But after a bit of thinking, I decided to make it a three-shot! Oh, and before I forget: green roses have no real meaning, blue roses have no real meaning, and purple roses don't mean surprise. I just needed flowers that meant those things, and when I couldn't find them, I made them up. Anyway, enjoy**_** Roses**_**.**

* * *

Roses

This was just getting weird.

Someone had been leaving me flowers everywhere for the last week and a half. They were always roses. How did I know the roses were for me? On every flower was a small note with the meaning and my name. Like I said, this was getting weird.

I had gotten a bit fed up with not knowing who was leaving the flowers, so one day I decided to set a trap. I knew that whoever was leaving them always knew where I would be, so I let it slip to a few of my friends that I was headed to the park at five that afternoon. After school, I told my mom I was going to the park. It was about four-fifty when I finally got there.

I was going to hide in huge tree by the fountain, but once I had climbed up I realized the flower-leaver had gotten there before me. A pretty green rose was wedged in between two branches, and I saw a bright white card tied to it. I picked it up and read the card, my anger growing slightly.

_Green Rose: Luck. Better luck next time Melanie._

"Why you stupid–" I began before I was cut off by my cell phone ringing. I pulled it out of my pocket and hit the green answer button.

"_Did you catch him?_" Bree Davenport's voice came from the tiny speaker.

"No," I sighed. "He knew what I was planning. There was another rose left for me where I was going to hide."

"_Ooh, what rose was it and what did it say?_"

"It was a green rose," I explained, twirling the flower around my fingers. "The card said 'Better luck next time Melanie.'"

"_Hey, I have an idea. What if you left him a rose and told him that if he doesn't reveal his identity, you'll throw away all the roses?_" Bree suggested.

I thought it over. "Hmm, that might actually work. Thanks Bree."

"_Any time_," she said. "_Tell me how it works out!_"

After I hung up, I grinned. I already knew what rose I was going to use.

* * *

The next day at school, right before seventh period, I set a soft blue rose on top of my locker. It was the only rose I could find that would match the message I was trying to send the secret admirer. Ugh, I didn't really like secret admirers. They were just stalkers with stationary –or in this case, roses. But I guess I had to admit that it was a bit sweet that he was going out of his way to leave me roses. I sighed to myself as I reread the note I was leaving for him.

_Blue Rose: Truth. Tell me who you are or I trash the flowers. I hate being left in the dark._

Okay, so maybe it was a bit too mean, but I was desperate. So I made sure people could see the flower easily before heading off to my last class of the day.

* * *

After class, I hurried to my locker. Sure enough, the blue rose was gone. I smiled to myself, thinking that he had gotten my message. But wait; if he got my rose, did that mean he had stopped leaving flowers? All I wanted was to figure out who he was!

Sighing to myself, I spun the dial on my lock and opened the door. When I did, I saw two flowers lying peacefully on top of my books. That creep hacked my lock! Furiously, I grabbed the first rose. It was a deep scarlet, and I was pretty sure what the card was going to say. Sure enough, I was right.

_Red Rose: Love. I love you Mel._

"Right, you love me but you won't tell me who you are," I grumbled under my breath. I picked up the second rose, light purple in color. I read the note, confusion blossoming on my face –no pun intended.

_Purple Rose: Surprise. Mel, turn around._

Turn around? Who was behind me? Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I spun in a circle. At first I didn't register what I was seeing, but when I did, I let a soft gasp escape. Standing in front of me was the last person I had ever expected to see.

Chase Davenport.

"Chase?"

He smiled shyly before pulling a small bouquet from behind his back. Every color of rose I had gotten over the last week and a half was in his hands. Pink for beauty. White for innocence. Yellow for cheer. Orange for passion. Green for luck. Purple for surprise. And red for love.

"Surprise," he said softly, a light blush creeping up his face as he handed me the seven-rose bouquet. I felt a smile form on my face as I took the flowers and inhaled their soft scent.

"It was you all along?" I asked, stunned.

"Well, yeah. I've sort of liked you for a while and I overheard you mention how you liked romantic things and roses were the most romantic things I could think of, but now you're not saying anything so you probably think I'm being an idiot so I'll leave now," Chase said all in a rush before turning around and starting to walk away.

I stopped him by grabbing his arm and tugging him back. Chase looked down at me –I was about four inches shorter than him, so unfair –confusion plain on his face. I smiled at him before handing him one of the red roses.

"A red rose means love, doesn't it?" I asked.

"Yeah . . ." Chase trailed off. I could tell he was confused, a feeling I was sure he wasn't used to having, so I decided to help him out.

"Well, I think the rose says it all," I explained with a smile. I used my free hand to grab his shoulder and pull him down to my height so I could kiss him.

Chase stood frozen for a second before kissing me back. It wasn't exactly expert, and it wasn't exactly the greatest first kiss ever, but to me it was perfect. I was over-the-moon ecstatic about the whole situation. Chase liked me. Chase was _kissing_ me!

When we broke apart, I opened my eyes to see Chase smiling down at me. I smiled back, knowing that this was only the start of a beautiful relationship.

"I love you Mel," he said. "I love your vibrant personality. I love the way your eyes sparkle midnight blue when you look at me. I love how even though you're shorter than me you make up for it with your energy and cheer. I–"

I silenced Chase by putting my hand over his mouth. With a grin, I started rattling off my own list.

"I love you too, Chase. I love how smart you are, even though you're a bit arrogant about it. I love how you always try to help people when you can. I love how you're one of the only guys I know that doesn't make me feel too short. I love _you_, and I'm glad you were the one leaving me flowers."

"Roses," he corrected automatically. "I left you roses."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, I'm glad you were the one leaving me _roses_."

Chase smiled, taking my hand in his. As we walked down the hall and out of school together, I couldn't help but think about what brought us together. I smiled softly to myself.

Roses were definitely my favorite flower.


	2. Secrets

**Here's the next chapter of Roses, Secrets, and Forgiveness. This is where the Secrets come into play. Don't worry, there won't be any major secrets, like false identities or pregnancy or anything. Just a certain bionic boy . . . Wait, I'm giving away the chapter! Okay, before I say anything else, please enjoy **_**Secrets**_**.**

* * *

Secrets

About two months after Chase and I had started dating, I was hanging out at his house with Bree. She was actually really supportive of our relationship, believe it or not. Well, she was supportive after I told her that I hadn't judged her relationship with Ethan, even when I had to listen to them giving each other stupid nicknames. After that she was really encouraging.

"So what are you guys doing for your two-month anniversary?" she asked, actually interested.

"I don't know yet," I admitted. "Chase refuses to tell me. But I bet it'll be something simple but adorable."

"Wow, just wow. Who knew my little brother could be romantic?" Bree joked.

"Um, why are you guys talking about me?" Chase asked, walking into the living room and sitting down beside me. I grabbed his hand smiled. Dating for two months meant that I could hold his hand and neither of us would start blushing uncontrollably.

"Bree wanted to know what we're doing for our two month anniversary," I explained. "I told her you were keeping it a secret."

"No, I'm not telling you, Bree," Chase said, skewering his sister with his eyes. "You'll just tell Lanie."

I gave Chase a playful shove. "How many times have I told you not to call me Lanie?"

Chase grinned. "I'll stop calling you Lanie when you stop calling me Chasey."

"Then I guess neither of us will stop," I joked. When I glanced over at Bree, she had a nauseous look on her face.

"Please, stop flirting with each other," she begged. "I can only take so much. Besides, it's really weird to see my little brother and my best friend flirt in front of me."

"Sorry Bree," I apologized. Chase, however, did no such thing.

"Oh, so I have to deal with you flirting with Owen or Ethan or whoever you're dating but I can't chat with my girlfriend?" he asked sarcastically.

"That's about right," Bree laughed. We all talked for a little while longer before my mom called and told me to come home.

"Sorry guys, I've gotta bolt," I said, getting up from my spot on the couch. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Happy day-before-your-two-month-anniversary!" Bree chirped, making me laugh.

"Thanks Bree. Bye Chasey," I joked while walking to the door.

"Bye Lanie," Chase taunted right back. He walked me to the door and pulled me into a quick hug before I left. I walked home, a stupid grin on my face.

* * *

"Surprise," Chase said as he pulled a dark violet rose out from behind his back. I smiled as he tucked the purple flower behind me ear. It matched the dark shade of my dress perfectly.

"Happy two-month anniversary," I said, handing Chase a small wrapped gift. "I think you'll like it."

Chase happily opened it to reveal a small novel titled '100 Dating Tips.' A small smile played across his face.

"Well, this makes me feel better about my gift to you," he chuckled. "It's sort of a gag gift."

"That's fair," I agreed. "That's what your gift was. I don't give meaningful gifts until the one year anniversary."

Chase laughed before handing me my present. I ripped the paper off to reveal a bracelet that had 'Geek's Girl' written on it. I had to laugh.

"Well, it's nice to see you admit you're a geek," I joked, slipping the bracelet on my wrist. "I like it; thanks."

"You're welcome," Chase replied, taking my hand. We started walking down the street, swinging our interlocked hands like sixth graders. I giggled as Chase started spewing random facts and statistics on dating. Eventually I had to push him off balance to get him to shut up.

We ended up going to dinner at my favorite restaurant in town, which actually surprised me. How had Chase known this was my favorite place to eat? I hadn't told him. After a waitress showed us to our table, we sat down across from each other. Once we had ordered our dinner, Chase smiled at me.

"What?" I asked. Why was he staring at me?

"You're kind of beautiful, you know?"

I felt a blush spread across my face as I shook my head. "No, I'm not. I'm just me."

"Lanie, quit denying it and take a compliment," Chase insisted.

Sighing, I nodded. "Fine. Thanks Chase. You look nice yourself."

He smiled, and our date went on as he apparently planned. During dessert, Chase swiped some of my ice cream. I retaliated by stealing a forkful of his cake. We ended up laughing and joking about the whole date. Hanging out with Chase was really fun, as I had found out over the last two months.

After we finished eating, Chase decided we were going to take a walk in the park. When I questioned him about the safety of two teenagers walking in the park alone after dark, he told me he would keep us safe. I had to roll my eyes at that. Chase was too much of a geek to be able to do that. But at least I had taken some self-defense courses so I could 'help' Chase.

"So, what did you think?" Chase asked. I could tell he really wanted to know, so I threw him a bone, so to speak.

"It was fun," I said truthfully. "I really liked our date."

"Good," Chase stated. "I enjoyed it too."

Okay, cue awkward silence.

"Okay, really? We've been talking for two months now and we can't even carry on a conversation?" I joked. "This is just sad."

Chase laughed before starting up a conversation about how we first met. I'm ashamed to say that I managed to knock him into the jocks' table before coming to his rescue and later apologizing. We chatted and laughed about anything and everything before something happened that would change our relationship forever.

Three creepy guys with evil grins came up to us.

"Hey babe," the one in the middle, obviously their leader, said in a conceited tone. "Whatcha doing out here?"

"Leave her alone," Chase said in a steely voice. What was going on? Who were those creeps?

"Aw, look," the leader said to his two friends. "The short stack's found himself a hot chick. Well, we can take care of that, now can't we?"

"Yeah," the two others chorused. Chase wrapped his arm around my waist and moved himself in front of me. I tried to squirm away, but he held me there. Was he trying to protect me?

"I said leave her alone." Chase's voice deepened dangerously. From what I could see of his face, anger was the dominate emotion. What was going on with him?

"Ooh, what are you going to do? Complain to Santa that I'm being naughty?" the leader sneered. "Whatever, elf. Now let's get you out of the way so we can have some fun with your girl over there."

In a flash, I understood what was going on. Those guys were going to beat up Chase, maybe even kill him, and kidnap me. Or worse.

Chase turned to me and told me to run before spinning back and quickly moving into a fighting position. He didn't have to tell me twice. Thankful that I had been wearing flats for our date, I rushed away and hid behind a tree. I didn't want to go too far in case Chase got hurt and I had to call 911.

Chase immediately started kicking, punching, and pretty much kicking the guys' asses. Whoa, had he been taking martial arts classes behind my back? I was about to come out from behind the tree when something completely unexpected happened.

Chase raised his right hand and the three guys literally floated up into the air. When Chase flicked his wrist, the guys flew in the same direction. What was Chase?

The leader got to his feet within seconds, making me even more nervous. This wasn't going to be good.

"That was a mistake, whatever-the-hell-you-are," he snarled, pulling a pistol out of his pocket. Why did he have a gun?!

The leader guy fired the gun at Chase and I cried out in alarm, certain Chase was going to die. But that didn't happen. Instead, Chase threw up both hands and a see-through blue shield surrounded him, protecting him from the bullet. Said bullet bounced off, soaring into a tree a few feet away. The leader guy finally realized that something was really wrong about Chase and got his two friends up before running away.

I couldn't move. What was Chase? In fact, _what the hell was_ _Chase_?! I saw him take a deep breath before glancing around nervously. He looked behind his shoulder and saw me gripping the tree for dear life. If it hadn't been for the tree, I probably would've fallen over by now.

"Lanie?" Chase said softly in a tone normally reserved for scared animals. "Melanie, are you okay?" He started walking slowly toward me before I let go of the tree and bolted away.

"Melanie! Wait!"

I ignored his pleas. All I could think was _what was that what was that what was that what was that_?! I felt something inside me break, probably my heart, as I grasped that I had fallen in love with someone that wasn't even human.

As I ran, my pale hair fell out of my hair tie, cascading around my face. I was probably a mess, I realized distractedly. But that didn't matter. Nothing mattered right now but getting as far away from the chaos my life had become in the last ten minutes

As I sprinted down the street, I thought I heard Chase yell my name one last time.

* * *

**And that's the end of this chapter! I know what you're probably thinking: What'll happen with Melanie and Chase? Will he ever be able to explain himself to her? Will they break up? Keep reading to find out! Oh, and on a random note: can you guys check out my new oneshot? It's my first ever crossover (between Lab Rats and Rise of the Guardians). It's called They Don't Believe. I would be eternally grateful! Thanks for reading!**

** ~C**


	3. Forgiveness

***runs in* Hey! I'm not dead! Yay! *cricket noise* Never mind. You've stuck with the story this far and I know you're probably dying to figure out what's going to happen, so go ahead and enjoy **_**Forgiveness**_**.**

* * *

Forgiveness

Three days had passed since that disaster of an anniversary date. My cell phone had been ringing every hour, and each and every time it was Chase. I eventually had to turn my phone off so I think in peace.

What was I going to say to Chase at school today? It would be the first time I had seen him since the date-night disaster. Did Adam and Bree know he wasn't human? Were they the same as their brother? I knew that the only way to find out was to talk to them before talking to Chase, so I knew what I was going to do.

When I got to school I immediately headed over to Bree's locker. She was just getting her books out of the steel locker when I got to her. Bree looked at me for less than a second before launching into her rant.

"Omigod, Chase said something bad happened on your date on Friday, but he refused to tell me what happened. What did he do? What happened? Did you get hurt? Chase told me you ran away and he tried calling you over the weekend several times but you never answered. He's really worried about you, you know. I've never seen him so upset. Mel, you look awful."

"Thanks so much for telling me I look like crap," I said sarcastically. "And as to what happened, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Trust me, I'd probably believe it," Bree said. "But seriously, you don't look good. Wait, were you crying?"

Crap, I thought I'd hid that better. But I guess pulling my almost-blonde hair back into a loose ponytail and wearing barely any makeup wasn't exactly the best look. Though should I tell Bree what I saw? What if she didn't know about her brother's abilities? I decided to take that chance.

"Bree," I tried "your brother isn't human."

Bree started laughing before she saw the expression on my face. "Wait, you're serious?"

"Yeah," I said. I found myself telling her everything: the creeps threatening us, Chase trying to protect me, Chase kicking their butts, Chase using some sort of telekinesis, Chase throwing up a force field, me running away, and ending with me ignoring his calls all weekend.

When I finished my tale, Bree was speechless. Maybe she hadn't known that Chase wasn't human. But when she finally spoke, her words confused the crap out of me.

"Chase revealed his bionics in front of strangers?"

Now I was the one who was speechless. I listened as Bree had a mini conversation with herself. It took several minutes, but Bree finally noticed I was still here.

"Okay, so we've got to get you to Mr. Davenport and have him explain everything," she said, grabbing my arm. Before I had time to object –I had just gotten to school, and we couldn't leave before it even started –the world rushed past us in a powerful breeze. When the wind finally died down, I saw we were standing in the middle of her living room.

"What are you people?!" I demanded, pulling my arm out of her grasp. "First Chase and now you? Who's next, Leo?"

Bree actually laughed at that. "No, Leo isn't like us. Adam is though. He's got the strength of ten men his size."

I felt a bit faint from this information overload. "Um, okay. So none of you are human. I can deal with that . . . No, I can't," I amended, shaking my head. "Nope, can't deal with that. I'm sorry, but I've gotta go . . ."

When I tried heading out the door, something got in my way. It took me a second to figure out it was Bree. Wasn't she just on the other side of the room? Everything suddenly started spinning and the world went black.

* * *

"Lanie?"

Someone was calling my name. Who called me Lanie? I couldn't remember. I didn't want to wake up, though, because that meant something bad would happen. I was sure of it. Something was really wrong, and I didn't want to remember what it was. But I wasn't given a choice. Instead of falling back asleep like I wanted, my eyes decided they were going to open.

The first thing I saw were three strange tube-thingies standing side by side. Then I noticed the rest of the room. I was in some sort of strange tech-lab. That's when I realized that someone was sitting beside me.

"Are you okay?" Chase asked. I glanced up and saw the worry in his deep chocolate eyes.

I struggled to sit up and Chase, realizing what I was trying to do, gently helped me. Once I was sitting, I smacked him with all the strength I had.

"Ow!" he grumbled. "What was that for?"

"For not telling me you're not human!" I told him, swinging my legs over the side of –what was I on? –the table. I got to my feet and started walking away before I realized I had no idea where I was going.

"How do I get out of here? Where _is_ here?" I demanded, turning back to face Chase.

"The elevator is the door with the interlocked red circles," he explained. "And this is the lab. Mr. Davenport created it so Adam, Bree, and I would have a place to grow up without being threatened by the outside world. We weren't even supposed to leave until we finished our training."

"Training for what?" So I was curious, sue me.

Chase sighed, beckoning me over. I was torn. If I went over that meant that I was probably going to stay and listen to a lengthy explanation, but if I left I wouldn't figure out what was going on. I decided to throw caution to the wind and go back over to Chase. Once I had sat down in one of the few chairs around the lab, Chase started his explanation.

"Okay, so the first thing you need to know is that my family and I _are_ human. We just have a set of special abilities that come from a microchip implanted in our necks. We're bionic super-humans that were designed to save the world. For most of our lives, the lab was the only place we'd ever been. Mr. Davenport wouldn't even let us upstairs."

"Wait," I interrupted. "So not only did he keep you trapped down here, but you call your dad Mr. Davenport?"

Chase actually had a ghost of a smile on his face. "He's not technically our dad. He's really our uncle, which is a whole other situation in itself, but yeah, we were raised to call him Mr. Davenport. And he didn't keep us trapped down here; he kept us safe."

Chase went on to explain how he and his two siblings had been kept away from the world, not only for their own safety, but for the safety of everyone else until they could control their glitches. This part what when I decided to get question-y.

"What glitches?"

Chase grinned. "Well, when Adam glitches his heat vision or his plasma grenades activate, Bree starts running uncontrollably, and I turn into Spike."

"Who's Spike?" Now I was really curious.

"Spike is part of something called a Commando App. It's like the fight or flight response without the flight part. He takes over when I get too angry or nervous," Chase explained.

I nodded. "So on our date when your voice got gravelly and you got angry, that was Spike?"

"Pretty much," Chase sighed. "I had no idea he could use my bionics. If I had known, I would've done anything to keep him under control."

"And you'd be dead right now and I'm not exactly sure what would've happened to me, but I know it would be bad," I countered.

"Probably," Chase replied grimly. "Anyway, now that you know the truth, I can give you two options: you can promise never to tell anyone my family's secret and go on with your life, or I'll be forced to use Mr. Davenport's neuro-scrambler on you and make you forget what you saw. I can't let you hurt my family, Lanie."

"Mel," I corrected automatically. "And I'm not gonna tell anyone about your family. Look, Chase, I was just taken by surprise. I mean, if you were in my situation, what would you do?"

"I probably run away screaming," Chase mused.

"Exactly," I grinned. "But now that I know what's going on, I think it's awesome. I mean, how many people can say their boyfriend is a real-life super hero?"

Chase's smile was bright enough to melt ice. "So you're still willing to be my girlfriend?"

I gave him a playful shove in response. "Seriously Chase? You have to ask? I'm sticking around to see what happens next. Being your girlfriend is sure to be interesting."

Chase took my hand in his. "So I'm forgiven?"

"I think I should be asking that," I said by way of answer. "I'm the one who ran off."

"So we're even," Chase reasoned. I smiled as we walked out of the lab together, swinging out interlocked hands like sixth graders.

"Yeah, we're even. And happy three-days-after-our-two-month-anniversary," I laughed, resting my head on his shoulder as we got in the elevator.

"Thanks Lanie."

"You're welcome, Chasey."

I wouldn't trade this life for anything.

* * *

**Well, that's that. I know it probably wasn't what you expected –it wasn't what **_**I **_**expected either, and I'm the one who wrote it. Anyway, I hoped you liked the final chapter of Roses, Secrets, and Forgiveness. Thanks for reading!**

** ~C**


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